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A recent study concludes that while card issuers score high in their fraud resolution offerings, they vary widely in the capabilities for fraud prevention and detection. The “2006 Card Issuers’ Identity Safety Scorecard,” published by Javelin Strategy & Research, found that Citibank, American Express and Bank of America ranked as the top issuers with the most effective in dealing with ID fraud. The study ranked 23 top credit card issuers. Javelin says issuers are beginning to adopt specific safety capabilities such as issuer-defined restrictions on cash advances and account-balance limits as well as alerts on large transactions or changes to customer addresses. The research also found that while consumers are being warned against disclosing Social Security numbers, almost half of all card issuers continue to use the full nine-digit number in their interaction with customers, whether by phone, Internet or mail.

INSIDE Contactless has announced an extension of its “MicroPass”
contactless platform with new support for the “VISA Contactless Mini Card”
and has achieved full compliance with Visa’s requirements for security,
performance and functionality of Visa Contactless. The “MicroPass”
platform is available today to Visa USA member financial institutions in
the “VISA Contactless Mini Card” form-factor through Giesecke & Devrient.
INSIDE Contactless is a fabless semiconductor provider.

Canadian Tire Corporation has appointed Tom Gauld as President and CEO and
a Director of the Corporation. Gauld joined Canadian Tire Financial
Services in 1993 as Vice-President of Marketing and soon assumed the role
of president of Canadian Tire Financial Services and Officer of the
Corporation. Previously, Gauld was President of RoadMaster Leisure Inc.,
Managing Director of Spalding Sports in Europe and President of Spalding
Sports Canada Ltd. and has held a variety of senior management positions
with organizations around the world.

VISA International, in collaboration with Maybank, Maxis Communications Berhad (Maxis) and Nokia, has launched the world’s first “Mobile VISA Wave Payment Pilot” in Malaysia. “Mobile VISA Wave Payment” combines Near Field Communications with “VISA Wave Contactless Card” technologies, building on the existing “VISA Wave” contactless card platform. “Mobile VISA Wave Payment” can be made across all merchants in Malaysia that have “VISA Wave”-supported terminals. No change to the current acceptance infrastructure is required. Cardholders selected for the pilot will be issued a phone pre-programmed with their regular Maybankard “VISA Wave” card information. The are currently 2,500 outlets in Malaysia that accept “VISA Wave” and more than 160,000 cards have issued.

MasterCard has unveiled two new authentication solutions for online banking and e-commerce transactions in the U.S. The two solutions offer two-factor authentication which combines PIN and a device. MasterCard’s “All-in-One Authentication Device” and “MasterCard Mobile Authentication” are based on MasterCard’s “OneSmart Chip Authentication Program.” The “All-in-One Authentication Device” is provided by XIRING. The “MasterCard Mobile Authentication” program is currently available through Cardinal Commerce.

Alliance Data Systems has signed a multi-year agreement with Sacramento Municipal Utility District to provide electronic bill presentment and payment processing for 560,000 accounts. SMUD is the sixth-largest publicly owned utility in the United States, with 2005 revenue of more than $1.2 billion.

Another bank is loading rewards on its debit cards. NY-based First Niagara Bank is introducing “ScoreCard Rewards” for its MasterCard debit cards. Eligible checking customers will be automatically enrolled in “ScoreCard.” They will receive one point for every $3 in signature based debit card transactions, as well as bonus points for opening new savings accounts, home equity loans or lines of credit to reward loyalty. First Niagara has 120 branches across New York state.

Dallas-based TNB Card Services has hired Kenneth Bowers, formerly with CUNA Mutual Group, as SVP/National Sales Manager. Bowers comes to TNB from CUNA Mutual Group, where he was most recently a divisional vice president supporting credit union sales executives in Texas, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Arkansas and Louisiana. He spent much of his tenure with CUNA Mutual working with financial services products such as financial planning, lending solutions, employee benefit plans, and insurance products for credit unions and their members.

A new research commissioned by VISA Europe shows a new breed of “smart
spending” businesses are emerging who shop around both
on-line and off-line, look for the best deals on low cost airlines,
encourage employees to use budget hotels and save on travel costs by using
conference calls when purchasing every day goods and services. One finding
was that the vast majority of businesses believe they are more in control
of their everyday spending than they were two years ago, with the internet
appearing to be one reason for this development. The research was conducted by Datamonitor.

A new report has concluded that the Web sites run by Capital One, Bank of America and Discover are the best when it comes to shopping for a credit card online. Change Sciences Group reveals 54% of sites offering multiple cards do not provide a way for prospects to compare card offers and that 60% of the sites do not communicate clearly that credit card fraud protection is a top priority. The research group also says that 93% of credit card applications have well-understood usability problems. Change Sciences noted that 42% of sites reviewed do not provide a chance to transfer balances from other cards during the application process and that of those sites that do, 85% make transferring balances harder than it needs to be.

Alberta-based ATB Financial is the sixth Canadian issuing institution to join the “Cross-Border Debit” program, offered through an alliance between NYCE Corporation and Acxsys Corporation. About 420,000 Canadian cardholders can now use PIN debit to shop at more than one million U.S. retailers. The program logged nearly 170,000 transactions in March, an all-time high, resulting in more than $11 million in sales at NYCE retailers-and an increase of 68% over last year’s March transaction volume. Canadians are a significant market for U.S. retailers, making up the country’s largest group of international visitors with nearly 14 million visits in 2005. Canadian shoppers initiated more than 1.5 million PIN-debit transactions in the U.S. for a total dollar value of over $96 million.